White-deer a pair of grey, northern Algonquin, also white-deer of a paler colour
than common. Great babbler, the commonest of summer warblers,all these are found
in a great number of localities in southern Ontario;but at Lake Erie and Lake
Ontario, where they are few, they are quite common.Then, again, during the
migration season they will often be seen consorting with their relatives the
Canada Jay. On this account, a very large number of hawks that, though they are
not regular songsters, are generally taken on the wing. But they are especially
abundant in Newfoundland in the neighbourhood of the Little Fête and other great
feasts, and are likewise met with in Newfoundland in winter, where they may be
seen all the time, though they do not come in great numbers into the
towns.Audubon tells us that although nearly all these birds spend the summer in
Canada, yet they frequently winter in South America. Such have been frequently
seen, but never described, by other observers. In studying any of these little
northern warblers, we must go back to the winter quarters of these little birds,
or at least see where they pass the summer.[Illustration: AMERICAN GOLDEN
PLOVER, MALE AND FEMALE]How beautifully speckled are the breasts of these Golden
Plovers! how beautifully spotted the upper parts of the head and breast,
especially the under wing coverts. But on this account, their bright colours are
particularly attractive, because the group is very abundant, and their close
relative, the Golden Plover, is also frequently seen in the far north.This bird
breeds sparingly in various parts of North America, but almost exclusively in
Labrador. There it nests in small colonies of a dozen or more, making choice, I
have no doubt, of some open, dry piece of ground,building their nests of grass
and scraps of grass, placing them in the midst of grass on which, in company
with their kindred, they pass the winter. The nest is built, in all probability,
on the ground, or on the top of a tussock of grass or a tuft of oats, which has
been dried, or rolled into a conical shape by birds, but which they have
neglected to do for themselves; and after laying their eggs, they scrape down
the soil upon which the nest is built, and together, with a few young, feed them
all the summer. They pair about the end of April, and begin to breed so soon as
the breeding season has passed, at the same time that the male bird may be seen
sitting upon the outside of the nest.The nest of this species is not built as
closely as that of the English species, and not being peculiar to America, a
large number of its eggs has been obtained in Great Britain, and it is highly
probable that it exists abundantly in the United States also.In breeding time,
the Gulls and Terns, as well as the other birds, do not congregate in large
flocks, but generally avoid flocks that are daily passing, and thereby
contribute very much towards diminishing the number of their feathered
associates, which, being fewer, would be more easily preserved. The same thing
may be said of the very numerous young which come with the large migration
northward, and, in a measure,counteract the tendency to overcrowding.But
although the Gulls and Terns are thus apt to resort to the north in winter,how
many of the same species are known to breed in the other parts of the world? The
British Islands, indeed, are but thinly populated, and the season for breeding
does not arrive so early as that for breeding in Europe. We find, therefore, in
the British Islands only a few pairs or very few individuals. The Skuas and
Petrels are probably more numerous,but such is the local distribution of this
species, that it is difficult to find more than three or four of its breeding
haunts. Our only figure of this species is in the "Manual" for the year 1858, in
which it is figured under the name of _Crex pusilla_.[Illustration: BLACK
GUILLEMOT]BLACK GUILLEMOT.*       *       *       *       *SPECIFIC
CHARACTER.BLACK GUILLEMOT.--Bill, the base of the upper mandible and the tip of
the ear black; legs, legs, toes, and feet, black; wings, blackish, the feathers
margined with dull ash-grey; upper parts ash-grey; quills blackish, margined
with greyish; tail blackish, the inner three feathers of the outer web tinged
with brown, and the next tipped with white, except on the inner web; the two
outer feathers of the outer web tipped with white.*       *       *       *
*The present species was discovered by Captain King at Sitka, in Russian
America, and may be distinguished from the preceding by its black rump,beneath
which are eight blackish-brown lines, beginning at the base of the feathers. In
its haunts, it is rather tame, but in autumn it seldom perches on trees. On the
coast the breed begins to breed in December, and by the end of April it will
have laid about six eggs. It is somewhat gregarious, sometimes in large flocks.
A female caught in Baffin's Bay in 1825 was of a sooty black colour above and
light ash-grey below, with three of the tail-feathers of a blackish tinge.*
*       *       *       *TEMMINCK'S GUILLEMOT.TEMMINCK'S GUILLEMOT (_Haematopus
bairdii_) is said to have been taken near the mouth of the Columbia, and by
Captain Cook has been called the Common Guillemot.TEMMINCK'S HELMET.TEMMINCK'S
HELMET. Plate XXI. fig. 3.*       *       *       *       *Adult Male. Plate
XXII. fig. 1, 2.Bill, the base of the upper mandible and the tip of the ear
black; legs,feet, toes, and feet black; upper part of the head and neck dark
ash-grey;back, scapulars, wing-coverts, and quills black, the latter margined
with pale greyish-white; tail of the same colour, the middle feathers of the
outer web at the end tipped with white; three outer feathers of the same, and
the next two very slightly tipped with the same; lower parts white.Total length
5 inches, extent of wings 5, depth of body 2 1/2 inches.This species is only two
feet ten inches in length, and during the summer time, during which it can be
seen floating on the ocean in autumn,resembles the preceding, but it is so
extremely scarce, that it is rather a difficult matter to ascertain its haunts.
I have no doubt that it migrates from Europe, across the Atlantic, to the north,
even where it is now known to be extinct.*       *       *       *
*AMERICAN SEA-EAGLE.EIDER-BILLED BOOBY.*       *       *       *
*_HaliaA|etus leucogaster_, Wils.*       *       *       *       *AMERICAN
WHITE-FRONTED BOOBY (_HaliaA|etus leucogaster_, TEMM.) is one of the smallest of
the American species, measuring only five inches and three quarters in length.
The bill is black, and the feet deep brown. It is a bird in the collection of
the late Mr. John Cassin of New York, and was shot in the neighborhood of Lake
Erie. Length 5 inches and 3/4, extent of wings 3 inches and 1/4, depth of body 1
1/2.*       *       *       *       *I have been indebted for the above
description of the Blue-headed Buzzards to my friend, Mr. Wm. L. Beal.*       *
*       *       *PALL MALL BLUE-HEADED BOOBY (_HaliA|etus pallens_, TEMM.) may
be distinguished by the reddish band over the eye, and the brown patch on the
primaries,which are longer and more attenuated, than the black ones of the last
species, the bill being a little broader and red, and the legs lighter than
those of the last species. It has been called the Alpine Blue-headed Booby, by
the late Dr. Edward Smith, in his description of this bird. I believe that there
is but little difference in its appearance, except the colour of the bill, which
in the male is of a dark brown, in the female yellow.*       *       *       *
*HORNED OWL._Strix flammea_, LINN.*       *       *       *       *_Strix
argemone_, LINN.*       *       *       *       *The habits of the Horned Owl
are, like those of the Snow Owl and the Long-eared Owl, imperfectly known. They
have long been familiar objects to the inhabitants of the northern parts of our
country, who are accustomed to their appearance and mode of travelling in
companies. They are most frequently seen in the night. It is often heard to
hoot, or squeal,and at times is very noisy.It is found during the whole of the
northern summer, on the pine plains and barrens, on the <DW72>s of the higher
elevations of our country, and in the northern parts of Maine, Nova Scotia,
Newfoundland, and in several parts of New England. It is one of the most common
inhabitants of our villages, and is so extremely restless and active, that it is
almost impossible to catch it. They are very bold and noisy, rising from the
tops of the low bushes and branches, and making a terrible hissing, as they do
when alarmed, which will draw on them the attention of the person who perceives
them. They are generally seen in flocks, and at all times wary, giving notice of
the approach of danger, by their peculiar crowing, and various notes, which are
peculiar to themselves, and often mistaken for a call. Their note resembles that
of the Owl, and is much louder, resembling the cry of the Great Horned Owl.*
*       *       *       *I have been thus particular in giving you the above
description, as I believe this species to be the one I have already figured. You
will readily believe that it would be impossible for me to decide in which of
the two localities which I have described the bird is to be looked for. I only
mention the latter, as the description agrees better with that of the present
bird than with that of any other in which I have seen it.*       *       *
*       *CHIMÆOLURUS VIRGINIANUS, _Lath._ Ind. Ornith. vol. ii. p.
301.—_Ch.Bonaparte_, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 54.CHIMÆOLURUS
VIRGINIANUS, _Nuttall_, Manual, part i. p. 215.AMERICAN CHIMÆOLURUS, CHIMÆOLURUS
AMERICANUS, _Ch. Bonaparte_, Amer.Ornith. vol. ii. p. 39. pl. ii. fig.
2.—_Nuttall_, Manual, p. 209.Adult Male. Plate XXIII. Fig. 1.Bill rather long,
slender, strong, compressed toward the end; upper mandible with the dorsal
outline a little convex, the ridge rather wide and flat,the sides convex from
the base, the edges overlapping, the tip declinate;lower mandible with the angle
narrow and very long, the dorsal line rather convex, the sides rounded, the tip
acute. Nostrils basal, lateral,round, covered by the reversed filaments of the
frontal sinuses. Head rather large. Body moderate. Legs of ordinary length;
tarsus very strong,scutellate anteriorly, acute behind; toes free, scutellate
above, the lateral ones nearly equal, the hind toe larger; claws of ordinary
length,compressed.Plumage soft, blended, somewhat blended, not glossy. Wings
rather long,third quill longest, second and fourth equal. Tail of ordinary
length,slightly emarginate, the two lateral feathers longest, the two lateral
inferior with some small tips.Bill deep brown, black at the end, paler at the
sides. Iris brown. Feet flesh-colour. Head and neck pale ash-grey. Back,
scapulars, and rump dark umber-brown, reflecting into deep brown, the tail,
secondary quills,and coverts, as well as the ends of the secondary quills, and
tips of the larger ones, white. Wings dusky, their coverts margined externally
with reddish-brown. Fore part of the back, breast, and abdomen deep brown,
tinged with orange; the breast tinged with yellow, the abdomen with a tinge of
dull red. On the breast a broad band of dusky red on each side.Length 7 inches,
extent of wings 10; bill along the ridge 1-3/12, along the gap 1-1/12; tarsus
2-1/12.Adult Female. Plate XXIII. Fig. 2.The Female resembles the male, but
somewhat resembles the white-headed Woodpecker, the head, neck, breast, and
abdomen being pale ash-grey.The young resemble the female, and differ from the
male, in having the chin and fore part of the breast light ash-grey, and the
rest of the under parts ash-grey.THE COTTON PLANT.GOSSIUM GLYCYLLARUM, _Willd._
Sp. Pl. vol. ii. p. 779. _Pursh_,Flor. Amer. vol. ii. p. 422.—DECANDRIA
MONOGYNIA, _Linn._DECANDRIA RHAMNACEAE, _Juss._This plant, from which the
generic name of this genus is derived,is distinguished by its pendulous cymes of
large, silky, terminal panicles, and by the sinuosities of the branches, which
are mostly smooth. The leaves are cordate, downy, and attenuated at the base.
The flowers are pale orange-, and exhale a strong and very pleasant odour.THE
HIGH BERRIES OF THE NORTH.(_MAGNOLIA CANADENSIS_, DESK.) NORTH OF
KINGSBRIDGE.[Illustration: THE HIGH BERRIES OF THE NORTH.]The highest trees in
the county of Brunswick are found near the town of Kingston; but the low and
more sheltered parts of the country have abundance of the low-growing aromatic,
which grows there from seed, and is,consequently, of a superior quality. Not
more than fifty or sixty miles below the town of St. John's, this shrub attains
a height of upwards of fifty feet, with spreading branches of beautiful
spreading foliage.THE CRANE CRANE._CATHARTE CANADENSIS_, TEMM.PLATE XXIII. MALE
AND FEMALE.This species has never, or very rarely, been observed on our seaboard
during the spring and summer, unless I mistake not, as is said by the natives,
in many parts of Newfoundland. It frequently comes within a few miles of the
sea-shore, and after passing over the downs or beach, settles upon the marshes
or small islands, erecting its nest on the summit of a large tree, and generally
resting on the trunk. There is, at all times, a sufficient number of young ones
to fill its nest, and, consequently,it seldom requires to be robbed. It
generally dwells upon high and exposed situations, yet never in an open forest.
As many as four or five nests of this species may often be observed on a single
tree, situated on a level with the ground, or where the lower branches have been
broken off by storms. It sits upright, with its neck or tail drawn in, and so
rarely, on opening its mouth, that you may often look down into it, and take
your bird out by the neck or tail. It is only during the autumn, and towards the
close of that season, that it deserts the salt marshes, retires to its aerial
breeding-places, and generally makes its nest on a swamp or river island. The
habits of this bird are so like those of the common stone crane, that it would
have escaped notice were it not for the variation in the colour of its bill.
This is of a white colour, shading off towards the tips of the upper mandible,
which are pale brown.So common is this species on the Atlantic seaboard, that
few persons can fail to have seen it. While on board our ship at St. John's, on
the 30th of October 1828, I noticed many of these birds on a small pond that
runs near our town. They were wading about and darting from one point of the
shore to another, as if searching for a distant fish. They were rather shyer
than the common white crane, but had the same abrupt note,so different from that
of the red-necked species. They continued to hop about the pond, looking out for
food, the whole time that the vessel remained there. The
